After nearly being voted off the NBC-TV singing competition “The Voice” last week, Bucks County singer Matthew Schuler appears to be headed for the Top 5 after a rousing performance of a new song and an uneven version of an R&B classic Monday.

Matthew Schuler

Schuler, 20, of Yardley, was in the bottom three contestants on the show last week, but was the first saved by the viewing audience’s votes.

On Monday, each of the remaining contestants performed two songs. Schuler sang well and was charismatic –he has more charisma than any other contestant, for sure -- on One Direction’s “The Story of My Life.” Then he was uneven on the Percy Sledge classic “When a Man Loves a Woman,” but seemed to have enough good moments to stay alive.

Results will be shown on tonight’s episode at 9 p.m.

Christina Aguilera, Schuler’s celebrity mentor on the show, told Schuler his secret is “what you bring to” a song.

“You always have this way of always making it your own,” Aguilera told him after “The Story of My Life.” “It was special.” Celebrity judge Blake Shelton’s reaction to Schuler’s performance was “OMG,” the texting acronym for “oh my god.”

Here's a video of his performance:

And, indeed, he had good control and sang big when he needed to. He dedicated the performance to his family – his father and mother, who are both preachers, and his two siblings. “You all anchored me during this experience,” Schuler said.

Schuler wasn’t as successful on “When a Man Loves a Woman” – occasionally great, but also occasionally screamy.

Despite that, Aguilera told Schuler he was “phenomenal.”

“It really takes a great vocalist to embody every genre of music, and I think you, out of anyone on this show, has shown how many different things you’re able to do. You’re so versatile.” Shelton told him, “That was as good as I’ve ever heard you sing.”

Schuler, who got the show’s fastest four-chair turn-around from the judges in September, seems safe this week, but has tough competition ahead – ironically, on his own team.

Jacquie Lee, a 16-year-old Selena Gomez look-alike and powerhouse vocalist who is the other remaining member of Aguilera’s team, was clearly the best Monday, doing Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby” and Aguilera’s “The Voice Within.”

On the former, Lee wasn’t afraid to use her big voice and wrung emotion out of the song – finishing in her knees. But it seemed a bit old for her. On the latter, she was supremely talented, but needed to be careful about when to rein in her vocals.

Of the other contestants, central Pennsylvania’s James Wolpert, among three remaining members of Adam Levine’s team, had one of the show’s standout moments with Meat Loaf’s “I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” – a crazy tough song that he nailed.

But he was far less successful on The White Stripes’ “I Fell in Love with a Girl,” which was too esoteric and not well-known enough, and didn’t show anything special.

Cole Vosbury, the remaining member of Shelton’s team, was decent on Hall and Oates’ “Rich Girl,” and very good, with nice voice control on James Morrison’s “Better Man.”

The two other members of Levine’s team, Tessann Chin and Will Champlin, were underwhelming, though neither was bad.

Champlin was especially uninspiring – an occasionally off-key, with Sam Cooke’s “Change is Gonna Come” (and he had to follow Schuler’s first performance), and undistinguished on Aviccii’s “Hey Brother.”

They are the candidates to go home this week.

Schuler in 2011 graduated from Pennsbury High School and is a sophomore rugby player at West Chester University. To help pay for college, he works as a sandwich maker in a bagel store.

JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.